Episode 57 (885-901) (567-577)

Donnerstag und Freitag, 2.-3. August 1945.

Slothrop wechselt seine Identität ein letztes mal und wird der Schweineheld Plechazunga. Hierzu sagt Fowler:

“Slothrop’s finest moment is his defense of villagers and children from poice at a Pig-Hero festival (…) of course he accepts the mythic role, just as he has accepted the roles of Ian Scuffling, B-movie war correspondent, and Rocketman, comic-strip hero of the Zone’s drug aficianados. It is important to notice that the Pig-Hero ritual is pagan, uncorrupted by Christianity, for this is one of Pynchon’s most important code-chains. (…) Pagan over Christian, Lucifer over God, Pan over Christ, Titan over Olympian, King Kong over Christian North–everywhere in Pynchon the fallen gods are the true gods, but sometimes only children and outcasts believe in their persistence.”
(Fowler, p. 58)